Realtor Disclosure Violations Surge as Korea Confronts Jeonse Fraud Risks

Reported violations of South Korean real estate agents’ duty to explain crucial property information have surged over the past three years, raising concerns that tenants remain exposed to risks associated with jeonse fraud despite stronger disclosure rules.

Data provided by the Korea Real Estate Board to People Power Party lawmaker Yoo Sang-beom showed 724 cases classified as inadequate explanations of brokered properties from 2023 through the end of July 2026. Yoo serves on the National Assembly’s Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee.

The annual count climbed from 44 cases in 2023 to 135 in 2024 and 298 in 2025. A further 247 cases were recorded in the first seven months of this year. That figure was 461 percent higher than the total for all of 2023, when authorities began separately tracking the category after expanding the scope of the reporting center for disruptions to the real estate transaction order.

The disclosure requirement is intended to help prospective tenants understand whether a home carries legal or financial claims that could jeopardize their deposits. Under the Licensed Real Estate Agents Act, agents must accurately explain the property’s condition and location, as well as rights attached to it. Those include ownership, jeonse rights, mortgages, superficies and lease rights. Agents must also disclose whether a landlord has unpaid taxes and present supporting materials such as certified registry documents and trust registers.

The rise in violations suggests that more detailed rules have not eliminated gaps in compliance. Inadequate checks of priority deposits or other property rights can leave a tenant vulnerable after signing a contract, particularly when competing claims determine who is repaid first if a landlord encounters financial trouble.

Yoo said an agent’s confirmation and explanation duties are central to protecting tenants’ deposits and preventing transaction disputes. He called for reasonable administrative standards to address deliberate omissions of priority rights and repeated false explanations.

Broader enforcement data also point to persistent problems in the property brokerage market. Since 2021, prohibited conduct by real estate agents, including false statements about important transaction details, accounted for 763 detected violations. Price collusion was the next most common category with 729 cases. Among categories tracked since 2023, inadequate explanations of brokered properties were the most frequently reported.

The figures add pressure on regulators and the brokerage industry to ensure that disclosure obligations work in practice, not only on paper. For tenants committing large lump-sum jeonse deposits, the quality of those checks can determine whether hidden claims are identified before a contract is signed.